Garment hanger



Feb. 1-, 1955 c, WELKER 2,71,083

' GARMENT HANGER Filed June 29, 1953 l NELS E. WELKE/ j INVENTOR.

United States Patent GARMENT HANGER Nels C. Welker, Portland, Oreg.

Application June 29, 1953, Serial No. 364,531

1 Claim. (Cl. 223-89) This invention relates to improvements in adjustable garment hangers of the types shown in my co-pending applications, Serial No. 183,510, filed September 7, 1950, and Serial No. 276,957, filed March 17, 1952 now Patent No. 2,666,561, issued January 19, 1954.

It is one of the principal objects of the present invention to provide a hanger of this character with a pair of outwardly and downwardly inclined arms of inverted U-shape in cross-section and extension arms slidably mounted therein. The bottom surface of each extension arm is formed with spaced apart cavities adapted for selective engagement with a spring-pressed ball whose cage is held in place within extension arm supports in the ends of the inclined arms by upwardly and inwardly turned ends of a cross-bar which also serves as a hanger for trousers or the like.

Other objects and advantages will appear as my invention is more fully hereinafter described in the following specification illustrated in the accompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a garment hanger made in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken approximately along the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing:

The main body of the hanger comprises a central portion, indicated by reference 1, formed integral with two outwardly and downwardly extending arms 2 and 3 and provided with any approved type of suspending hook 4.

As best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the lower portions of the arms 2 and 3 are formed into inverted U-shaped channels 5 extending throughout their length. Secured by any suitable means within the outer end of each channel is a block 6 formed with a downwardly extending enlarged portion 7 of a width equal to the overall width of the arms 2 and 3 so that the sides of the portion 7 will lie flush with the outside surfaces of both of said arms. The blocks 6 form a sliding support for extension arms indicated at 8 slidable lengthwise within the channels 5. The bottom surface of each extension arm is formed with a plurality of cavities 9 equally spaced apart throughout its length. The outermost end of each extension arm is formed integral with a downwardly extending portion 10 which serves as a limit stop for the inward movement of the arm to a fully closed or retracted position.

A cylindrical cavity 11 is formed in each block 6 to receive a cage 12 within which and extending outwardly therefrom is a spring-pressed ball 13 adapted for progressive or selective engagement with the cavities 9 to hold its respective extension arm 8 at any of its adjusted positions.

Extending inwardly from the outside surface of the enlarged portion 7 of each of the blocks 6 and in open communication with the cavities 11 is a horizontal aperture 14 which communicates at its outer end with a vertical groove 15 also formed in said outside surface of each block. The grooves 15 are adapted to receive vertical leg portions 16 of a cross-bar 17 whose upper ends are turned inwardly at right angles to themselves for insertion through the apertures 14 and to bear against the cages 12 under spring tension for maintaining the cages within their respective cavities 11 by binding them against opposite sides of the walls thereof as shown. If at any time it becomes necessary or desirable to remove the cross-bar from the hanger its leg portions 16 can be readily sprung out of engagement with the apertures 14 into the broken line position shown in Figure 3. The cross-bar is also useful as a hanger for trousers or other articles of clothing.

While I have shown a particular form of embodiment of my invention I am aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Having thus described my invention What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A garment hanger comprising in combination a body member having a central portion and a pair of arms extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom, each of said arms being of inverted U-shape in cross-section to form a channel throughout its length, a block secured within each channel at the outer end thereof, and having a downwardly extending cavity formed therein, a cage disposed within each cavity, a spring-urged ball disposed within each cage and normally extending upwardly into said channel, a resilient cross-bar turned upwardly and inwardly at both of its ends and extending into said block and into sprung engagement with said cages for maintaining the cages within their respective cavities, an extension arm slidably mounted within each channel and upon each block, the bottom surface of each extension arm having a plurality of spaced apart cavities formed therein for selective engagement with its respective ball for maintaining the extension arm in any of its adjusted positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

